Indiana Jones (comics)

Last updated
Indiana Jones
Indiana Jones Omnibus.jpg
Cover to Dark Horse Comics's February 2008 collection.
Character information
First appearance Raiders of the Lost Ark #1 (September 1981)
Publication information
Publisher Marvel Comics
Dark Horse Comics
FormatsOriginal material for the series has been published as a set of ongoing series, limited series, and one-shot comics.
Genre
Publication date 1981–2010
Reprints
Collected editions
Omnibus Vol. 1 ISBN   1-59307-887-0
Further Adventures Omnibus Vol. 1 ISBN   1595822461

The Indiana Jones franchise has appeared in many comic books. Marvel Comics initially held the comic book licensing rights before they were acquired by Dark Horse Comics in 1990. Marvel published adaptations of the films Raiders of the Lost Ark , Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom , and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade , while Dark Horse adapted the Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis video game, The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles television series, and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull .

Contents

Marvel also published The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones from 1983 to 1986, which were the first original adventures featuring the character in comic book form. From 1992 to 1996, following the Fate of Atlantis adaptation, Dark Horse published seven limited series. With the franchise's revival in 2008 due to the release of Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Dark Horse published further series, including one aimed at children.

Marvel Comics

1980s

In 1981, Marvel Comics published a three-issue adaptation of Raiders of the Lost Ark . In January 1983, the character was given his own monthly series, named The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones, which ran for 34 issues until March 1986. The series featured Marcus Brody and Marion Ravenwood in regular supporting roles, with appearances by Sallah, Katanga, and Short Round as well. A three-issue adaptation of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and a four-issue adaptation of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade were also published.

The series is notable for having developed its own continuity, adding original content and characters to pre-existing Indiana Jones mythology, with villains such as rival archeologist Ian McIver and Ali Ben Ayoob, a Levantine tycoon employing Ishmaelite assassins as agents.

Dark Horse reprinted the Raiders adaptation and the first 12 issues of The Further Adventures on February 18, 2009. [1] A second omnibus volume followed on September 23, 2009, reprinting issues #13-24 and the Temple of Doom adaptation [2] and a third volume on February 24, 2010 reprinted the final ten issues and the Last Crusade adaptation. [3]

Dark Horse Comics

1990s

Dark Horse Comics published a bimonthly four-issue adaptation of the Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis computer game by William Messner-Loebs and Dan Barry from March to September 1991. From 1992 the following original series were published:

A series based on The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles television series, written by Dan Barry, began in February 1992 and lasted a year. The twelve issues retold the 'Curse of the Jackal' pilot followed by six of the show's first season episodes. Barry drew the first three and the last four issues of that series, while Gray Morrow drew issues three to six, and Gordon Purcell drew the seventh and eighth issues.

Sales of the later series were poor, which resulted in the cancellation of Pete Ford and Hugh Fleming's Indiana Jones and the Lost Horizon. It would have explored Indiana's friendship with Abner Ravenwood in 1926. [4] In February 2008, Fate of Atlantis, Thunder in the Orient and Arms of Gold were collected into an omnibus. [5] The rest was collected together in June. [6]

2000s

An adaptation of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull , written by John Jackson Miller and penciled in by Luke Ross, came out in May 2008. [7] The following month, an ongoing children's series entitled Indiana Jones Adventures began, which is modeled after Clone Wars Adventures . The first volume, set in 1930, involves Norse mythology while Indiana travels to Sweden and Marrakech. [8] It was followed by a Free Comic Book Day six-page story and a second volume of Indiana Jones Adventures, both published in 2009. The four-issue Indiana Jones and the Tomb of the Gods (written by Rob Williams and penciled by Steve Scott were published between June 2008 and March 2009.

Indiana Jones and Short Round cameo in the Star Wars story "Into the Great Unknown" in Star Wars Tales #19 (2004), where they find the wreck of the Millennium Falcon and the body of Han Solo while searching for the Sasquatch, who is in fact Chewbacca.

Reception

Kevin Powers of Comics Bulletin gave Fate of Atlantis, Thunder in the Orient and Arms of Gold positive reviews. He found Fate of Atlantis a "darker, more fast-paced" adaptation of the game, but that it still captured Indiana and Sophia Hapgood's relationship. He also argued, "the parallel between the downfall of Atlantis and the downfall of the Nazi searchers is really well done". There was "hell of a lot going on in" Thunder in the Orient, "but it's fairly easy to follow and the political connotations are very well documented". He compared it and Arms of Gold to Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom because of its focus on action over characterization, although he deemed the latter "perfect for someone looking for a well-crafted adventure story". He praised its romantic elements, but found the villain an afterthought. [9]

Powers found Dan Barry's art for the first two Dark Horse series "cartoonish, [but] it definitely suits the feeling of Indiana Jones. Barry did an excellent job capturing the action and adventure aspects of Indy as well as the supernatural. The representations of Atlantis were extremely well done and remain consistent throughout the book". He preferred Dan Spiegle's artwork in the last issue of Thunder in the Orient as "it's edgier, rugged and has a more 'realistic' and old-school type artwork that is very well suited to Indiana Jones". He felt Leo Durañona's art for Arms of Gold was "decent, but a bit inconsistent. He goes for the 'rugged' Indiana Jones look, but the inconsistencies in the art from page to page are a bit noticeable". [9]

The website's reception of the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull adaptation was poor, arguing it "reads like a summary of a story, not like a story", and that John Jackson Miller's writing was "lacking". The only highpoint was the art from Luke Ross and Fabio Laguna which "runs the gamut from decent to fantastic". [10] They acclaimed the rest of 2008's comics (the first issue of Tomb of the Gods and volume one of Indiana Jones Adventures), particularly their art. Powers, in his review of the limited series, felt "Harrison Ford from Raiders jumped off the screen and into a comic book [and his Marcus Brody is the spitting image of Denholm Elliott". [11] In the latter series, he still found the simpler depiction of Belloq "amazingly just like Paul Freeman". [12]

International comics

Titan Magazines began publishing the Indiana Jones Comic in the United Kingdom on May 22, 2008. [13]

A series of three hardcover albums by writer Claude Moliterni and artist Giancarlo Alessandrini was published in France by the Bagheera publishing house. [14]

Collected editions

A number of the stories have been collected into trade paperbacks:

Notes

  1. ↑ "Marvel Indiana Jones Omnibus: Volume 1". TheRaider.net. 2008-09-10. Retrieved 2008-09-12.
  2. ↑ "Indiana Jones Omnibus: The Further Adventures Volume 2" . Retrieved 2009-11-19.
  3. ↑ "Indiana Jones Omnibus: The Further Adventures Volume 3" . Retrieved 2009-11-19.
  4. ↑ Paul Shipper (2002-12-26). "Hugh Fleming interview". TheRaider.net. Retrieved 2008-02-28.
  5. ↑ Indiana Jones Omnibus Volume 1. Dark Horse Comics. February 2008. p. 352. ISBN   978-1-59307-887-4.
  6. ↑ Indiana Jones Omnibus Volume 2. Dark Horse Comics. June 2008. p. 384. ISBN   978-1-59307-953-6.
  7. ↑ Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Dark Horse Comics. May 2008. p. 96. ISBN   978-1-59307-952-9.
  8. ↑ JK Parkin (2008-06-17). "Philip Gelatt on Indiana Jones Adventures". Newsarama . Archived from the original on 2008-11-19. Retrieved 2008-06-17.
  9. 1 2 Kevin Powers (2008-02-16). "Indiana Jones Omnibus Vol. 1". Comics Bulletin . Retrieved 2008-04-22.
  10. ↑ Jon Judy (2008-05-29). "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull #1". Comics Bulletin . Retrieved 2008-05-29.
  11. ↑ Kevin Powers (2008-07-12). "Indiana Jones and the Tomb of the Gods #1". Comics Bulletin . Retrieved 2008-07-14.
  12. ↑ Kevin Powers and Ray Tate (2008-07-02). "Indiana Jones Adventures Volume 1". Comics Bulletin . Retrieved 2008-07-14.
  13. ↑ "Indiana Jones Comic". Titan Magazines . Retrieved 2008-04-28.
  14. ↑ "French Indiana Jones comics published by Bagheera". Bedetheque.com. Retrieved 2010-10-01.

Related Research Articles

<i>Nexus</i> (comics) Comic book series

Nexus is an American comic book series created by writer Mike Baron and penciler Steve Rude in 1981. The series is a combination of the superhero and science fiction genres, set 500 years in the future.

<i>Aliens vs. Predator</i> (comics)

Aliens vs. Predator is a comic book series published by Dark Horse Comics between 1989 and 2020 on an intermittent basis, written and drawn by various artists. Dark Horse also publishes the Aliens and Predator lines of comics.

Jackson "Butch" Guice is an American comics artist who has worked in the comics industry since the 1980s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Lloyd (comics)</span> English illustrator (born 1950)

David Lloyd is an English comics artist best known as the illustrator of the story V for Vendetta, written by Alan Moore, and the designer of its anarchist protagonist V and the modern Guy Fawkes/V mask, the latter going on to become a symbol of protest.

Stuart Moore is an American writer and editor of comic books and novels.

Ian Edginton is a British comic book writer, known for his work on such titles as X-Force, Scarlet Traces, H. G. Wells' The War of the Worlds and Leviathan.

Andrew Watson is a British cartoonist and illustrator best known for the graphic novels Breakfast After Noon, Slow News Day and his series Skeleton Key and Love Fights, published by Oni Press and Slave Labor Graphics.

<i>Aliens</i> (Dark Horse Comics line) Comic book line

Aliens is a line of several comic books set in the fictional universe of the Alien films published by Dark Horse Comics from 1988 forward. The stories often feature the company Weyland-Yutani and the United States Colonial Marines. Originally intended as a sequel to James Cameron's 1986 film Aliens, the first mini-series features the characters of Rebecca "Newt" Jorden and Corporal Dwayne Hicks. Later series also included the further adventures of Ellen Ripley, with other stories being unique to the Alien universe and are often used to explore other aspects of the species, such as their sociology and biology, and also tying into Dark Horse Comics' Predator and Aliens vs. Predator lines.

Planet of the Apes comics are tie-ins to the Planet of the Apes media franchise. They have been released by several publishers over the years and include tie-ins and spin-offs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barbara Kesel</span> American writer and editor of comic book

Barbara Randall Kesel is an American writer and editor of comic books. Her bibliography includes work for Crossgen, Dark Horse Comics, DC Comics, IDW Publishing, Image Comics, and Marvel Comics.

<i>Chamber of Darkness</i>

Chamber of Darkness is a horror/fantasy anthology comic book published by the American company Marvel Comics. Under this and a subsequent name, it ran from 1969 to 1974. It featured work by creators such as writer-editor Stan Lee, writers Gerry Conway, Archie Goodwin, and Roy Thomas, and artists John Buscema, Johnny Craig, Jack Kirby, Tom Sutton, Barry Windsor-Smith, and Bernie Wrightson. Stories were generally hosted by either of the characters Digger, a gravedigger, or Headstone P. Gravely, in undertaker garb, or by one of the artists or writers.

<i>Star Wars</i> comics Various comic books based on the Star Wars franchise

Star Wars comics have been produced by various comic book publishers since the debut of the 1977 film Star Wars. Marvel Comics launched its original series in 1977, beginning with a six-issue comic adaptation of the film and running for 107 issues, including an adaptation of The Empire Strikes Back. Marvel also released an adaptation of Return of the Jedi and spin-offs based on Droids and Ewoks. A self-titled comic strip ran in American newspapers between 1979 and 1984. Blackthorne Publishing released a three-issue run of 3-D comics from 1987 to 1988.

Indiana Jones is an American media franchise consisting of five films and a prequel television series, along with games, comics, and tie-in novels, that depicts the adventures of Dr. Henry Walton "Indiana" Jones, Jr., a fictional professor of archaeology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mike Richardson (publisher)</span> American publisher, writer, and producer

Mike Richardson is an American publisher, writer, and producer. In 1986, he founded Dark Horse Comics, an international publishing house located in Milwaukie, Oregon. Richardson is also the founder and President of the Things From Another World retail chain and president of Dark Horse Entertainment, which has developed and produced numerous projects for film and television based on Dark Horse properties or licensed properties.

<i>Conan</i> (Dark Horse Comics) Comic book series published by Dark Horse Comics

Conan, the sword-and-sorcery character created by Robert E. Howard, is the protagonist of seven major comic series published by Dark Horse Comics. The first series, titled simply Conan, ran for 50 issues from 2004 to 2008; the second, titled Conan the Cimmerian, began publication in 2008 and lasted 25 issues until 2010; the third series, titled Conan: Road of Kings, started publishing in December 2010 and ended in January 2012 after 12 issues; a fourth series, titled Conan the Barbarian, continuing from Road of Kings, lasted 25 issues from February 2012 to March 2014; a fifth series, titled Conan the Avenger, started publishing in April 2014 and ended in April 2016 after 25 issues; a sixth and final series, titled Conan the Slayer lasted 12 issues from July 2016 to August 2017.

<i>Tomb Raider</i> (comics) Comic books based on the Tomb Raider video games

The Tomb Raider comic book series is based on the video game franchise Tomb Raider, currently produced by Crystal Dynamics, which features the character of Lara Croft. The original series of comics, which were released between 1999 and 2005, were published by Top Cow and were primarily based on the games released by Core Design. In 2014, following the reboot of the Tomb Raider franchise, the series was revived and is currently being published by Dark Horse Comics. The new timeline of events is based upon the rebooted iteration of Lara Croft and her adventures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Solomon Kane (comics)</span> Fictional character in Marvel Comics

Solomon Kane is a fictional character featured in several comics published by Marvel Comics between 1973 and 1994. He was originally created by the pulp-era writer Robert E. Howard. Dark Horse Comics began publishing a new series of Kane stories in 2008, and also published collections of the 1970s Marvel stories in 2009.

<i>Savage Sword of Conan</i>

The Savage Sword of Conan was a black-and-white magazine-format comic book series published beginning in 1974 by Curtis Magazines, an imprint of American company Marvel Comics, and then later by Marvel itself. Savage Sword of Conan starred Robert E. Howard's most famous creation, Conan the Barbarian, and has the distinction of being the longest-surviving title of the short-lived Curtis imprint.

Arvid Nelson is an American comic book writer, best known for Rex Mundi.

References

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.